Learning maps

General description

Learning maps provide a more visually appealing representation of learning paths. The activities in the course are not displayed in a list, but graphically on a background image. The activities of the course are then linked on this background image and released step by step for the students one after the other. The activities themselves are usually “hidden but available” in the course.

A learning map is divided into places and paths. Places are shown as circles and are either invisible, available, or visited. Paths connect two places. A location is linked to an activity in the course. Clicking the place opens the associated activity. When the associated activity has been completed, the place is marked as visited, ie the place changes its fill color. Once a location has been marked as visited, all other locations connected by a path will automatically become available.

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notice

All activities to be attended have an activity completion, which the students can simply click on by default. If a certain number of points for tasks or an answered question in the forum counts as an activity completion, then enter this under Settings - Activity completion of the respective activity.

Didactic uses

The Learning Map activity provides an easy way to gamify a course. With an attractive background image, which can also be used to connect the learning content in the context of a short story, the motivation of the learners can be increased and the learning progress can be seen at any time.

If you use several locations as the starting point, the students can also use different starting points. For example, as an attractive choice for self-determined learning or as preparation for a role-playing game.

The teacher has the opportunity to offer the learners different ways to a goal and can thus simply offer an internal differentiation. A shorter but more difficult path for more ambitious students and alternatively a slightly longer, smaller-step path that leads to the same goal in the end.

However, the learning map can also be used as an additional visualization of the activities in the course / in the course section and implement individual aspects of the "Checklist" module here. For example, you can choose a bookshelf as the background and link the activities from there.

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Creation of the activity

The learning map activity ultimately represents a kind of table of contents for the linked activities. You should therefore first consider which tasks your learning group should complete and create them accordingly. Only then do you create the learning map.

tips

It is best to use the one-topic format as the course format. This course format is very well suited for structuring many activities and, together with the learning map activity, offers graphically convincing navigation.

The "learning map" activity can also be completed with an activity. To do this, however, it is necessary to set at least one location as a "destination" and to mark the activity completion accordingly. When the learners reach the destination, the activity is considered complete.

Use by learners

On the main course page, learners see the learning map and the places marked as “starting point”. By clicking on the location, you will be automatically directed to the stored activity and can edit it. After successful completion, they return to the main course page with the learning map and can go to the next location.

Pupils are happy about the clear graphic navigation and are therefore informed about the current learning status at all times. This generally promotes motivation and enables self-determined learning to be used in an age-appropriate manner even in younger grades.

In the case of alternative learning paths in particular, the graphical representation using the learning map activity increases understanding. The transparent presentation of the possibilities is a didactically useful supplement for internally differentiated courses. 

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As a teacher, you can easily see the status of the class or individual students via the evaluation overview. You can also give specific feedback to the learners there.